Abominable Winter Ale | Hopworks Urban Brewery

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Reviews by boralyl:

A - Pours a clear, rich amber color which sits under an inch of soapy off-white head. The head has nice retention leaving behind plenty of lacing.

S - The aroma has a nice balance between malts and hops (with the hops edging out the malts slightly). The boutique of hop flavors match the description perfectly. There is some floral, spicy, and citrusy components. There is also a sweet caramel malt presence throughout.

M - Medium in body with moderate carbonation and a creamy feel.

T - A mix of spicy and citrus hops meet your taste buds upon the first sip. It's got a sweet malt backbone throughout with some possible chocolate malt showing up near the finish along with some flowery bitterness.

This is an excellent winter ale, that I don't know fits into any one category. Imperial red, strong ale, whatever you call it, it's delicious. I love the art work too, courtesy of Martin Ontiveros.

More User Reviews:

Sticky pungent hop nose of hemp, grapefruit rind and black tea ... clean whiff of alcohol and toasted malt rounds the aroma out. Hefty toasted malt character on a semi-lush smooth full-ish body. Hops ring in with a citrus bite with a slight bitter back-end, more of a blond tobacco and rind flavor later on. Alcohol drops some light fruitiness of ripe pears and mango. Hoppy finish with some linger of malt as well as the warmth of alcohol. A stellar American winter seasonal here ... malt, hops and alcohol are all elevated equally for the most part in the PNW manner. Delicious.

T: Yup. Hop-forward with a nice grapefruit and orange peel. Mildly herbal and spicy too. Kinda reminds me of a hoppy red. Maybe it's just the color that's fooling me. Nice mild breadiness peeks through and then it's more grapefruit and citrus in general into the finish. Mild wave of bitterness into the lingering aftertaste.

M: Medium bodied, just sweet enough for a nice IPA.

O: I was expecting a winter warmer or something spiced due to the "winter ale" in the name but this is a straight-up IPA. Nice big bold hop flavors but not super bitter. In fact it's very lightly sweet in the finish. Just enough to balance it nicely. Great drinkability. This one hit the spot.

Poured into an imperial nonic a dlear rich copper with a billowing white head that settles into a frothy,sticky mass,a great pour.A big kick of citric hops hits home in the aromas,the Simcoes really play a big role with the vitric cascades,a little sweet alcohol shows thru as well.A true Pacific northwest hop driven ale here,peppery and citric hops overtop of a nutty malt base with some light booze makes for a very well rounded hopped up beer.I thought this would be good but it's great,I wish I had more...alot more.

This beer is a fairly thick-looking dark orange color, almost but not quite opaque. The head consists of big, loose bubbles that pop and settle to a somewhat denser foam. Moderate lacing remains on the glass.
It's hop-forward in the aroma, with lots of leaf and herb but with a sweetness of orange flesh and something like caramel. It's got a bit of spiciness behind it, too.
The flavor follows suit, and this is a nicely hoppy beer balanced by sweetness in the middle and finishing with more dry bitterness. Herb, spice, earth, and leaf make for a fairly complex bittering, while the citrus and caramel-like notes come through as in the nose. There's almost a candied orange note right in the middle, and the hops take a pithy edge as they finish.
Crispness bites moderately beginning to end while remaining smooth, and a solid medium body doesn't wane. It runs semi-dry with a brief moment of semi-sweetness toward the front before the dry finish.

22oz bomber. Cheers to the monstrous, Dr. Seuss-esque beast of the woods adorning this rather kitschy label.

This beer pours a clear, medium bronzed amber hue, with two fingers of foamy, somewhat creamy beige head, which leaves some sparse rainforest tree-top lace around the glass as it gently seeps away.

It smells prominently of pine resin and pithy citrus rind up front, with a solid bready caramel malt, followed up by a further tepid herbal hoppiness. The taste is fairly bitter right off the bat - pine, earth, and grassy herbs, whose initial edge softens greatly as the slightly late-arriving bready, somewhat sour caramel malt barges in anew. Riding side saddle right along with it, I also get a wee bit of metallic alcohol warming.

The carbonation is on the low side, yet a tad frothy at the same rate, the body a decent middleweight, and generally smooth, but for a slight hop bitterness twinge. It finishes just on the perceptibly off-dry side - the moderately intrusive hops not giving up the game just yet, and the (apparently six kinds of!) malt doing an adequate job of general clean-up.

A winter ale, sure, I suppose - though I would proffer that this is more of a hopped-up amber ale, the only spice being ground-up hops. So, given its origins, it could also be simply called a summer ale, or an autumn ale, for all the difference it would make. It still tastes pretty good, however, but don't expect anything that actually complements all that Christmas baking on which you've just gorged, eh?

Flavor is plenty hoppy but, at the same time, more malty than expected. It has a fair dose of bitterness from the hops but the big malt bill goes a long way towards balancing it. Bready with a hint of rye malt and a big citrusy, resiney hop profile.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and nicely carbonated.

Overall a very good hoppy amber rye winter (and whatever else you want it to be) ale.

T: illustrious, bursting with hops (grapefruit, lemons, and pine). Leans toward the more tart, kind of spicy hops and yet it retains a good sweetness of caramel and light brown sugar. Pale malts are hidden but have the last bat and rounds the bases to keep things from being hop city...although it is close

M: well rounded, soft and slight dryness in the finish. Smooth and a great oily lingering finish on the tongue

D: great, just great! Solid beer and hop heads have to give this a try...ding ding ding!

22oz bottle served cold in pint glass. Beer pours a deep orange amber with nearly no head. Bonus points for the painted label on the bottle with Mr. Yeti. Slight citrus hop aroma.

Flavor is big on C-hops. This is the amber of IPAs. A little darker and there would be nothing between this and a CDA. At 7.3% it rationalizes the "winter ale" monicker, but the folks at Hopworks seem to be saying "It's Winter, you should be drinking hoppy beer. Just like every other time of the year."

The latest corny fill I picked up from Hopworks, after sampling the available wares in the pub last week. Pours a pretty reddish amber hue, crowned by a sizeable, creamy off-white head. Nice, thick, creamy lacing lingers on the glass the whole way down. Aroma is primarily spicy, floral hops, with a mildly sweet caramel malt base.
Palate is well-balanced up front, with pale and caramel malt blending with a spicy hop profile. The hops assert themselves a bit more after the swallow, leading to a mildly bitter finish. Notes of sweet biscuit, pine, and citrus pop up throughout.
Body is full and not too thick, and fits well as a winter seasonal. This gives Celebration and Wreck the Halls a run for their money as the top hoppy beer of the winter season. I may have to pick up a second corny, as this is just a fantastic, easy-drinking beer that has been keeping me warm during the Arctic Blast of 2008. Careful, though, it's quite strong and will catch up with you quickly.